Thursday, February 22, 2007 Older Editions

AHS ROUNDUP: No winter doldrums

By Rick Harrison

Rachel Fox and Nick D'Innocenzo, two of the finest high school athletes in Massachusetts, once again represented Andover in style with outstanding performances on the big stage.

Track star and Northwestern University women's lacrosse scholarship recipient Fox successfully defended her State Division 1 title in the girls 600 meter run, winning and breaking her own school record in that race at the Championship Meet held at the Reggie Lewis Athletic Center in Roxbury.

D'Innocenzo, only a sophomore, stole the show at the North Sectional Championship Boys Swimming & Diving Meet, winning two events while setting a new meet record and earning High School All-American status in one and coming within a few ticks of breaking a 19-year-old Sectional mark in the other.

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Those performances helped highlight another noteworthy week in AHS varsity sports, as the girls' and boys' basketball teams both captured titles in the inaugural Warrior Classics at the Dunn Gym and the boys' hockey team finished second in the Martha's Vineyard Tournament.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

The Andover High girls basketball team annexed a pair of titles during a very productive five-day stretch.

It started with a huge 57-42 victory over Central Catholic at the Dunn Gym, a "must-win" for the Lady Warriors that enabled them to grab a third share of the Merrimack Valley Conference Division 1 title along with vanquished Central and Lowell.

All three powerhouse teams finished 12-2 in league play.

Bolstered by the conference crown, head coach Jim Tildsley's crew went on to capture the inaugural Warrior Classic by defeating Ponagansett High of Rhode Island, 67-49, in the semifinal round and multi-time Rhode Island state champ LaSalle Academy, 47-37, in the title game at the Dunn Gym.

Maggie Cosgrove was named Tournament MVP, while Lauren Hughes was voted to the All-Tournament Team.

Those three big wins boosted the Lady Warriors' overall record to 16-4 this season - including 9-0 on the home court.

Head coach Jim Tildsley's Andover crew now has a 32-game regular-season win streak at the Dunn Gym since a 59-56 overtime loss to Peabody on Dec. 23, 2003.

Andover will enter the Division 1 North Tournament riding a six-game win skein and 8-1 over its last nine starts.

"We really closed the regular season on a good note - and are heading into the (MIAA Tournament) on a high," said Tildsley.

Scoring leaders

Meghan Thomann leads the team in scoring through 20 regular-season games with 290 points (14.5 ave.), followed by Laura Renfro with 259, Maggie Cosgrove 204 and Lauren Hughes 166.

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Thomann now has 839 career points and Cosgrove 817.

Tourney pairings

The MIAA Division 1 North Tournament pairings and seedings are scheduled to be drawn up and released tomorrow (Friday).

Warrior Classic

Championship Game

Andover 47

LaSalle Academy 37

Junior guard Meghan Thomann pumped through 13 points and Capt. Maggie Cosgrove added 12 as the Lady Warriors handed perennial Rhode Island power LaSalle only its second loss in 22 games this season (20-2).

"It was a terrific defensive effort by both teams," said Tildsley, whose club held LaSalle scoreless over the final 5:30 of the game to seal the victory.

Midway through the first half the score was tied, 12-12, before LaSalle clicked off six straight and built the lead to 24-17 with 3:29 left in the period.

Andover then escaped on a patented 10-0 run to close out the half, as Thomann netted a '3' and a 10-foot jumper, junior guard Laura Renfro nailed a jumper and Cosgrove hit a jump shot at the buzzer.

Leading 31-30 in the second half, the champs took control for good on a Renfro trey and a traditional three-point play (basket, free throw) by Camille Fantini.

It was 41-37 with more than five minutes left when the AHS defense, which held LaSalle to 13 second-half points, applied the clamps and held the visitors scoreless the rest of the way.

Thomann added five rebounds and two assists to her 13 points, while Tourney MVP Cosgrove also contributed seven assists and four steals to her dozen points.

Renfro finished with eight points, seven rebounds, four assists and one steal, while Camille Fantini had five points, eight caroms, three steals and two assists.

Amanda Fantini notched three points, Ilana Cohen had two free throws and solo buckets were provided by Lauren Hughes and Jordy Shoemaker. Hughes also corralled a team-high 10 rebounds.

LaSalle did not have a player in double figures.

"Lauren Hughes did an excellent job on their big girl - while Maggie held Jones to nine points after she had a big game in the semifinals," said Tildsley.

Semifinal

Andover 67

Ponagansett 49

Lauren Hughes poured in a team-high 17 points, completed a double-double with 10 rebounds and added two steals as the locals relegated Ponagansett (11-9 record) to the consolation game.

Meghan Thomann contributed 15 points, four assists, two steals and Maggie Cosgrove had nine points, 12 assists, three steals.

"We really ran the ball well - and defensively we bothered them with our man-to-man and a lot of half-court trapping," said Tildsley.

Andover broke a 10-10 tie with a 12-2 run capped by a Thomann jumper.

Ponagansett pulled back within 24-18 with four minutes left in the half, but an 11-4 run built the Lady Warriors' lead to 35-22 at the half.

AHS opened the second half with a 20-4 run over the first six minutes, led by Renfro's eight points, and with 10 minutes left the lead was up to a comfortable 55-26.

Laura Renfro finished with eight points and four assists, Sarah LoMedico played one of her strongest games of the season with six points and Camille Fantini had four points, eight rebounds, two steals.

Ilana Cohen also pocketed four points, Catherine LoMedico swished two free throws and Amanda Fantini had a basket.

Andover 57

Central Catholic 42

Lauren Hughes led three Lady Warriors into double figures with 13 points, while Camille Fantini and Meghan Thomann contributed 12 each as AHS picked up arguably its biggest victory of the season in convincing fashion at the Dunn Gym.

"The defense stepped up and we rebounded very well," said coach Tildsley. "This win was as good as it gets."

Andover trailed 10-4 after four minutes, but climbed back with a 9-2 run to take a 13-12 lead on a Laura Renfro three-pointer.

The locals inched ahead 29-25 at the half and then outscored the visiting Raiders, 28-17, after the break to avenge a 65-61 loss on Jan. 22 in Lawrence.

Central was ahead 33-31 five minutes into the second half, at which point a 13-0 AHS blitz turned the game around.

The impressive burst took just under two minutes to achieve as the locals out-ran CCHS and wore them down.

Camille Fantini and Hughes had key baskets in the pivotal run, while Ilana Cohen and Maggie Cosgrove added a three-pointer each.

Cosgrove once again directed the attack expertly and with typical unselfishness, adding seven points, while Renfro pocketed six points and Cohen five. Jordy Shoemaker completed the attack with a field goal.

Hughes also contributed 10 rebounds, six steals and three assists, while Camille Fantini had nine boards, two assists and one steal.

Thomann provided six steals and four assists, Cosgrove five assists, three steals and Renfro four assists, one steal.

Freshman center Katie Zenevitch tossed in nine points for CCHS, 15-5 overall, and she also added eight rebounds and three blocked shots.

BOYS SWIM & DIVE

Nick D'Innocenzo's latest eye-popping effort was instrumental in guiding Merrimack Valley Conference champion Andover to a strong fourth-place finish in the 2007 North Sectional Boys Swimming & Diving Championship Meet held at MIT in Cambridge.

AHS chalked up 126 points to trail only champ St. John's Prep of Danvers (255.5 points), runner-up Weston (251) and third place Acton-Boxboro (158.5) in a 30-school field.

Rounding out the top 10 teams were Ipswich at 111, Lincoln-Sudbury 72, Lexington 63, Chelmsford 57, Wayland 49 and Hamilton Wenham 46.5

"We were pleased with the results - especially considering our preparations have been more geared towards this week's State Meet," said Golden Warriors' assistant coach Adam Moskal.

The same nine swimmers who qualified for and competed at the North Sectionals will be back in action tonight (Thursday) at the State Division 1 Meet scheduled for the Blodgett Pool at Harvard University (6:45 p.m.).

Among the teams AHS should be battling for State honors are St. John's Prep of Danvers, Weston, B.C. High (only dual-meet loss) and Acton-Boxboro.

"St. John's is 'jacked' (loaded) again, Weston has won state titles and is always tough - and BC High already showed us its strength in the dual meet," said AHS head coach Mark Taffe prior to Sectionals. "St. John's and Weston are the favorites."

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Earlier this month the Golden Warriors finished the conference dual-meet schedule at a perfect 4-0, winning their last seven meets to close 8-1 overall.

The Andover boys are now 19-1-1 in their last 21 duals spanning two full seasons and part of a third.

North Sectional

Championship Meet

The first of reigning two-event State champ Nick D'Innocenzo's wins at this meet came in the 200-yard individual medley (IM), where his 1:54.27 gave him a runaway victory as well as establishing meet and school records and earning him automatic All-American status.

The IM is a test of a swimmer's versatility as it requires competitors to implement the butterfly, back, breast and freestyle strokes.

D'Innocenzo then scored 16 more points by touching first in the 500 freestyle, a test of stamina and strength that he finished in 4:38.07 to again win by a wide margin.

The time was just over a second off the meet-record 4:36.79 clocking by Westford Academy's Ethan Saulnier in 1988, and it also set D'Innocenzo up for All-American consideration in the event.

D'Innocenzo also anchored the Golden Warriors' third-place 200 medley relay, joining senior Capt. Dave Espindle, junior Zach Hamer and junior Peter Saunders on the team that finished in 1:43.46.

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The locals scored in all three relays, with the 400 free crew of juniors Peter Li, Christian Bishop, freshman Paul Hunter and D'Innocenzo posting a season-best 3:24.43 for 5th place.

The 200 free foursome of Li, Bishop, Hunter and Saunders was 7th in 1:35.27.

Saunders placed 5th in the 100 butterfly (54.75) and 7th in the 50 free (22.94).

Rounding out the individual AHS scorers were Bishop with a personal season-best 5:02.06 for 6th in the 500 free, sophomore Mike Bakies (1:51.98) and Bishop (1:52.23) taking 8th and 9th respectively in the 200 free and Hamer with his second best-ever 1:05.37 clocking for 11th in the 100 breaststroke.

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Competing in events but not scoring were Hamer in the 200 IM (personal-best 2:12.74), Li the 50 free (23.60) and 100 free (51.74), Hunter the 100 free (51.34), Bakies the 500 free (5:11.72) and 100 backstrokers Espindle (58.70), Hunter (58.80) and senior Capt. Kevin O'Donnell (1:03.16).

INDOOR TRACK

Senior Rachel Fox, headed to Northwestern University in Illinois next fall on a lacrosse scholarship, won the 600 meters in 1:36.89 as she out-kicked stubborn runner-up Emily Mepham of Lincoln-Sudbury.

Mepham was right on All-Scholastic Fox's heels as she crossed a half-stride and split-second behind in 1:37.58.

Fox missed the meet record by just over one second, the 1:35.73 clocking achieved by Kristen Kelly of Wachusett Regional in Holden in 2001.

The winners in the Division 2, 3 and 4 races all finished within a split second of Fox's time - giving her a very good shot at the All-State title tomorrow night (Friday) at the Lewis Center.

Sophomore Colleen Shannon barely missed adding another state champ to the AHS girls' roster, with her second-place 100 meter time of 2:58.02 a mere 17/100ths of a second behind winner Molly Binder of Lincoln-Sudbury (2:57.85).

Shannon, like Fox, also eclipsed her own school record along the way.

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Fox and Shannon's superb performances sparked the Lady Warriors to a strong fifth-place finish in a 26-school field tightly-bunched at the top.

Andover chalked up 38 points and was a mere eight points behind girls' co-champs Acton-Boxboro and Lincoln-Sudbury with 46 each.

Newton South had 44 and New Bedford 41.

Schedule

The top five finishers in each event automatically qualified for tomorrow night's (Friday) All-State Meet at the Lewis Center (5 p.m.).

Andover will be represented by Rachel Fox, Colleen Shannon, Christina Muccio, Jess Forster, the girls 4x200 and 4x400 relays, Chris McConnell and Peter Shaw.

MIAA State Division 1

Championship Meet

Andover girls

Junior Christina Muccio was third in the preliminaries (7.43) and fourth in the finals (7.45) of the 55-meter dash. She also competed in the long jump and took 13th with a top leap of 14'11 1/4."

The 4x400 relay of Vanessa Singleton, Kayley Pettoruto, Shannon and anchor Fox set a new school record (by almost five seconds) while placing second in 4:03.74, one of three times that smashed the old meet record of 4:04.32.

The 4x200 sprint relay, which consisted of Muccio, Melissa Knapp, Bizzy DiTroia and Jess Forster, was third in 1:47.64.

Forster, a junior, took fifth in the high jump after clearing 5'1," and she just missed scoring in the 55-meter hurdles by placing 7th in 9.16 seconds.

Sophomore Laura Cody finished 10th in the 600 meters (1:44.06).

Junior Casey Harrison was 10th in the mile (5:42.48), and fellow distance ace/freshman Molly Van Doren placed 19th in the two-mile (12:31.10).

Andover boys

The AHS boys scored four points to finish tied for 21st in a 29-school field.

Freshman sprinter Chris McConnell was fifth in the preliminaries (6.64) and fifth in the finals (6.68) of the 55-meter dash, which saw Lexington's Darius Walker set a meet record of 6.41.

Senior Peter Shaw also placed fifth in the two-mile, his 9:46.48 time just five seconds behind winner Kevin Gill of Brockton (9:41.42).

Junior Santi Costello came within seven inches of scoring, but had to settle for 13th place after soaring 20'0" in the long jump.

Senior Frank Perrone finished 17th in the 1000 meters (2:42.44).

Senior Sean Donlan also competed in the shot put and uncorked a top toss of 40'10 1/4."

The 4x400 relay was 11th in 3:37.30 and the 4x200 sprint relay was 14th in 1:37.26.

ALPINE SKI

The five-time reigning NSL champion Andover High girls alpine ski team completed the regular campaign with a 9-1 record, sharing the league title with North Andover, and the locals now own a 48-2 won-lost ledger during their five-year, 50-meet title run.

The boys were 6-4 and settled for third place behind North Andover and St. John's Prep of Danvers.

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The Andover girls have once again qualified for the All-State Championship Meet scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 27 at the Berkshire Hill Ski Area in Charlemont.

The first slalom and giant slalom runs are set for 9:30 a.m.

BOYS BASKETBALL

The Andover High boys varsity basketball team captured the inaugural Warrior Classic with a pulsating one-point, 45-44 victory over Boston Latin in the championship game.

That triumph came after the Golden Warriors handled Malden High easily, 54-38, in the semifinal round as Peter White pumped through a career-high 20 points and Tristian Shannon added 19.

The tourney sweep left coach Dave Fazio's crew at 14-7 overall and 8-5 in Division 1 of the Merrimack Valley Conference.

Still ahead is the Division 1 North Tournament - and anything can happen with this relentless crew which nine times has held an opponent to 46 or fewer points.

Scoring leaders

Ian Dempsey leads the pack through 19 games with 339 points, followed by Tristian Shannon at 252, Derrick Beasley 106, Greg Cook 96 and Chris Abreu 87.

Tourney pairings

The MIAA Division 1 North Tournament pairings and seedings are scheduled to be drawn up and released tomorrow (Friday).

Warrior Classic Championship Game

Andover 45

Boston Latin 44

Tristian Shannon converted a pair of free throws with eight seconds left as the Golden Warriors' offensive struggles and defensive heroics continued in the title game.

Tournament MVP Shannon finished with a team-high 18 points in this game and 37 for the tourney.

Greg Cook, named to the All-Tournament Team, contributed 10 points and nine rebounds in a strong two-way performance.

The locals, who trailed 30-24 at the half before limiting the Dual County League champion Wolfpack (17-5) to just 14 points after the break, also had seven from Ian Dempsey and four each from Gordon DuBois and Peter White.

Zach Burdeau netted one basket for what turned out to be two crucial points.

BOYS ICE HOCKEY

The Andover High boys varsity hockey team finished second in the four-team Martha's Vineyard Invitational Tournament after playing two strong games on the island, beating the host team 4-1 in the semifinals before coming back 20 hours later to drop a tough 3-1 decision to perennial power Franklin High in the championship game.

The Golden Warriors also handled Division 1 Chelmsford, 4-1, in a league crossover.

Those three results boosted the locals to 14-5-1 overall, including 8-1 in league play as Merrimack Valley/Dual County League Division 2 champions.

AHS carried an 7-1 mark in its last eight games into yesterday's regular-season finale against visiting MV/DCL 2 runner-up Tewksbury.

Andover has now won or shared four league titles in boys hockey, and third-year coach Mario Martiniello has stretched his personal won-lost-tied record to 35-20-7.

Zeroing in

The six shutouts this season - including three in a row recently - are both believed to be team records.

No. 1 goaltender Dan Abreu posted four straight shutouts before surrendering a goal to Chelmsford, which is also believed to be an individual AHS mark.

Since transferring back to AHS from Malden Catholic last year, Abreu has posted 10 solo shutouts and one shared shutout.

Through the first 20 games the locals had outscored the opposition by a healthy 66-31 margin for a stingy 1.55 goals-against average.

AHS has yielded only 10 goals in the last 11 games (0.91 ave.).

Andover has also had eight games this season decided by one goal. The locals are 5-3 in those games.

Schedule

Yesterday's final regular season contest was no longer for the MV/DCL 2 title but could get Andover a higher tourney seed.

Tourney pairings

The MIAA Division 2 North Tournament pairings will be drawn up and announced this Saturday.

Scoring leaders

Tucker Mullin led the way after 20 games with 26 goals, 24 assists for 50 points.

Colin Brennan and John Hyslip both had 12-18-30, and rounding out the leaders are Dan Godefroi 1-14-15, P.J. Paonessa 5-7-12 and Riki Retelle 1-11-12.

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In four years, although being used sparingly on the varsity as a freshman, Mullin has now scored 46 goals and passed out 51 assists for 97 career points.

He is the first AHS boys hockey player to score 20 goals and 50 points in a season since 1994-95 when Chris Cullen set school records for goals and total points with 29-22-51.

Cullen, who holds virtually every AHS scoring record for boys hockey, also had 19 goals, 24 assists for 43 points in 1995-96, 27-13-40 in 1993-94 and 22-14-36 in 1992-93.

Cullen's career totals were an impressive 97 goals, 73 assists for 170 points.

Andover 4

Chelmsford 1

After playing MV/DCL Division 1 opponents Billerica and Central Catholic (16-1-3 record) tough in earlier 3-2 losses this season, the Division 2 league champion Golden Warriors stepped up a level for the third time and came away with an impressive victory at the Valley Forum in Lawrence.

Once again the trio of Tucker Mullin, John Hyslip and Colin Brennan was at the center of the offense.

Mullin figured in all the scoring with one goal and three assists, as he continued to close in on the career 100-point plateau.

Hyslip chipped in one goal and two assists, Brennan had one of each and senior defenseman Dan Godefroi pumped in his first goal.

Andover outshot Chelmsford, 37-25, and although his shutout streak was halted at four games and more than 200 minutes goaltender Dan Abreu finished with 24 saves to backbone another victory.

AHS won this game in the third period, breaking a 1-1 tie with three straight goals by Brennan at 0:25, Hyslip 6:12 and Mullin 11:01.

Godefroi notched the game's first goal just 14 seconds into the middle period, and the Lions' Steve Jalbert tied it while also halting Abreu's streak of shutout minutes with a goal at 3:12.

"We'd like to climb up to Division 1 in the league next year - and I think this victory over Division 1 Chelmsford shows we can play with those guys," said coach Martiniello.

"It's not a pipe dream to play Division 1. There is a lot of good talent moving up through the Andover youth system - and if we can keep those kids in town and playing at Andover High we'll compete."

Martha's Vineyard Tournament

Semifinal round

Andover 4

Martha's Vineyard 1

The first line once again accounted for all the scoring, surpassing 100 points for the season as a unit with four goals and six assists.

Tucker Mullin continued his pursuit of Chris Cullen's goal and total-points records with his fourth hat trick of the winter.

Colin Brennan figured in all the scoring, with one goal and three assists, while John Hyslip also passed out three assists to round out the prolific evening at Oak Bluffs.

Darren Gaziallo gave MV (10-3-5 record) a 1-0 lead 8:33 into the game, but Brennan countered just 38 seconds later (9:11) with an unassisted goal to tie it.

Mullin put the locals ahead to stay at 13:55, and completed both his 'trick and the scoring with goals at 1:07 of the second period and 4:03 of the third (power play).

Dan Abreu made 20 saves as AHS finished with a 30-21 shooting edge, including 14-6 in the second stanza.

MV netminders Mike Copen (first period) and Alex Minnehan (second, third periods) combined for 26 stops.

"The first line has been phenomenal," said coach Martiniello. "They're on fire - and nothing changed in this game.

"Coming into this one we knew nothing about how they (Martha's Vineyard) play the game," added Martiniello.

Championship Game

Franklin 3

Andover 1

Franklin scored once in each period and outshot the Golden Warriors, 32-23, to snap the locals' seven-game win streak and skate off with the Martha's Vineyard Tournament title.

Capt. Tucker Mullin netted the AHS goal in the second period, assists to John Hyslip and Dan Godefroi.

Dan Abreu continued his outstanding play in net with 29 saves.

Traditional Division 2 power Franklin defeated North Reading, 6-3, in the semifinals.

GIRLS GYMNASTICS

The Andover High girls gymnastics team finished with a 139.4000 dual-meet scoring average this winter to take the No. 6 seed for the 2007 North Sectional Championship Meet, scheduled tomorrow night (Friday) at Beverly High (6 p.m.).

League champions and other specified teams with the highest average scores per dual meet have been invited.

MVC champion Chelmsford is the North top seed with a 146.0400 average.

Also in the 12-school field are No. 2 Masconomet Regional (144.9750), No. 3 Danvers (143.4450), No. 4 Hamilton Wenham (142.2950), No. 5 North Andover (140.2625), No. 7 Acton-Boxboro (139.1250), No. 8 Gloucester (138.4200), No. 9 Reading (137.5750), No. 10 Salem (137.4500), No. 11 Winthrop (137.4000) and No. 12 Newton South (136.9500).

The top seed in the South Sectional is multi-time state champ Barnstable (145.4325).

The top finishers in the North and South Sectionals will converge on Shewsbury High on March 2 for the All-State Meet (6 p.m.).

Other South qualifiers are No. 2 Sharon, No. 3 Bridgewater-Raynham, No. 4 Wachusett Regional of Holden, No. 5 Algonquin Regional of Northboro, No. 6 Shrewsbury High, No. 7 Attleboro, No. 8 Case High of New Bedford, No. 9 Hudson, No. 10 Westboro, No. 11 Canton and No. 12 Pembroke.

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The Lady Warriors recently wrapped up another very successful Merrimack Valley Conference season by placing second in the annual MVC Championship Meet at Dracut Junior High.

The solid showing followed a 7-1 dual-meet mark, including 6-1 in league competition, as first-year coach Kristen Vadala's Lady Warriors finished runner-up to undefeated reigning state champ Chelmsford which handed AHS its only loss on Jan. 22.

Andover is now 71-4 since Feb. 4, 1999, as well as 133-9 in its last 142 dual meets and 154-17 in the last 171.

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Leading the locals into battle tomorrow night will be freshman all-around Jenn Quirnbach, Carly Verrette (floor exercise, vault), Kristen Coneeny (floor, vault), Becky Robichaud (balance beam), Stephanie Marble (uneven bars) and Renee Coiro (floor).

Schedule

The All-State Team Meet is Friday, March 2 at Shrewsbury High (6 p.m.), with qualifiers determined by top finishes at the Sectionals.

AHS has consistently qualified for the Sectionals and All-State meets over the past 20 years - participating in the former 16 times and the latter seven times while winning the state title in 2000.

Last year the Lady Warriors were 7th in the North Sectionals, and in 2005 they were 2nd in the North and 5th All-State.

State Individual Meet

The State Individual Championship Meet is set for Beverly High with two separate competitions in the afternoon for each of the four individual events (uneven bars, balance beam, vault, floor exercise) and the evening for the all-around.

At a meeting of the selection committee at MIAA headquarters in Milford to determine - by scoring averages - which individuals and teams qualify for the meet there were several Andover standouts who made the grade.

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Lady Warriors' newcomer Jenn Quirnbach competed in the all-around where she was seeded 40th with a 35.125 average score.

Individually, Kristen Coneeny was seeded 12th (9.05 ave.) and Carly Verrette 33rd (8.7) in the vault.

Stephanie Marble was the No. 9 seed on the uneven bars (8.925).

Becky Robichaud was seeded 12th on balance beam (8.9375).

Competing in floor exercise for AHS were 9th-seed Carly Verrette (9.15), 11th-seed Becky Robichaud (9.125), No. 33 Kristen Coneeny (9.0625) and No. 36 Renee Coiro (9.05).

MVC GIRLS GYMNASTICS CHAMPIONSHIP MEET

at Dracut Junior High

Team Scores

1. Chelmsford 141.70; 2. ANDOVER 138.55; 3. Billerica 136.65; 4. Dracut 136.05; 5. Methuen 133.20; 6. Central Catholic 129.05; 7. Tewksbury 122.85; 8. Lowell 117.00.

Individual Events

BALANCE BEAM: 1. Ali Carr (Chelm) 9.4. Top AHS Placers: 3. (tie) Stephanie Marble 8.85; 6. Jenn Quirnbach 8.8.

UNEVEN BARS: 1. Ali Carr (Chelm) 9.6.

VAULT: 1. Ali Carr (Chelm) 9.7 (meet record). Top AHS Placers: 3. (tie) Carly Verrette 9.0; 5. Kristen Coneeny 8.95.

FLOOR EXERCISE: 1. Ali Carr (Chelm) 9.6. Top AHS Placers: 5. (tie) Jenn Quirnbach 9.15.

All-Around: 1. Ali Carr (Chelm) 38.30 (meet record); 6. Jenn Quirnbach 34.95.

BOYS GYMNASTICS

The Andover High boys gymaastics team saved its best performance for last.

Scoring a season-high 154.40 points, the Golden Warriors finished fourth in a seven-school field at the season-ending Massachusetts State Team Championship Meet held recently at Burlington High.

Senior Andy O'Connell, slowed by injury much of this winter, capped his AHS career by placing first in two events just as he did several days earlier in the State Individual Meet.

Once again O'Connell was tops on pommel horse with a 9.0 and on the parallel bars with an 8.5.

He also competed on the rings and took third with an 8.2.

Junior Aaron Davidovits performed well in the all-around, while other standouts included senior Rob Tornatore who was eighth in the vault and freshman twins Adam and Mark Vetere in floor exercise, pommel horse and rings.

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Braintree won the team title with 180.55 points, followed by Burlington (173.10), Attleboro (155.25), Andover, Lowell (145.70), Newton North/South (140.40) and Revere (139.80).

GIRLS ICE HOCKEY

The Andover High girls varsity hockey team continued its push for a higher State Division 1 Tournament seed, riding a pair of two-goal efforts by senior forward and Capt. Alison Burns and junior Asst. Capt. Trish Martin to a convincing 6-0 non-league romp over host Lincoln-Sudbury at the Valley Sports Arena in West Concord.

Sophomore goaltender Rachel Bergan also made it 2-for-2, pitching her second shutout in her second varsity start.

That win left the locals at 14-3-1 overall.

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The Lady Warriors have qualified for the MIAA State Tournament (this year Division 1) for the sixth straight season.

Andover, which held opponents scoreless for 153 consecutive minutes during one four-game stretch last month, outscored its first 18 opponents by a healthy 61-21 margin with six shutouts.

Schedule

AHS confronted the Canton Bulldogs earlier this week at Metropolis Arena in Canton, and the regular season finale today (Thursday) at noon is at Northeastern University's Matthews Arena against Dual County League power Boston Latin.

Scoring leaders

Sarah Oteri is still on top of the pack with 18 goals and 14 assists for 32 points after 18 games.

Becky Cairns has revved it up to 14 goals and 15 assists, followed by Heather Paonessa at 9-11-20, Nicole Giroux 3-14-17, Laura Drew 6-7-13 and Alison Burns 3-10-13.

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Burns is on the brink of a major milestone with 96 career points.

Tourney pairings

The MIAA State Division 1 Tournament pairings will be drawn up and announced this Saturday.

Andover 6

Lincoln-Sudbury 0

This was the second-highest output of the season for Andover (8-0 over Everett, Jan. 27) and marked the second time this winter the locals blanked L-S (3-0 win on Jan. 17).

A five-goal outburst in the second period snapped a 0-0 tie and took the fight out of Dual County League member Lincoln-Sudbury.

The rare explosion started with a Nicole Giroux goal just 47 seconds into the middle stanza.

Alison Burns (2:54) and Becky Cairns (8:04) followed with back-to-back power play tallies, before Trish Martin joined the scoring parade at 9:30 and Burns capped the prolific stanza with her second goal of the game at 11:58.

Martin wrapped up the offense at 10:01 of the third.

Sarah Oteri passed out three assists, while Capt. Becky Cairns and Heather Paonessa added two each and solo setups were distributed by Burns, Giroux, Martin and 8th graders Laura Drew and Alicia Nader.

AHS outshot the L-S Warriors, 33-15, as Rachel Bergan was perfect between the pipes once again.

"Kudos to Rachel," said head coach Bill McCarthy. "Two starts and two shutouts. Can't do better than that.

"Everybody got a chance to play quite a bit - and it was nice for a change that we found the back of the net a few more times than usual," added McCarthy.